(WZZM) -- You've heard about the clock ticking on America's "fiscal cliff," but what really happens on January 1 to you?

Fact: If Congress and the White House don't reach an agreement, your paycheck is going to go down. The reason? Because the tax witholding in your paycheck is going to increase.

The current payroll tax cut is set to expire on December 31. In dollars and cents, this means that your payroll tax withholding is going from 4.2% to 6.2%.

Why is this happening? Many of the policies expiring at the end of the year, like the payroll tax cut and emergency unemployment benefits, were originally passed on a temporary basis. The thinking was that the economy would be in much better shape by now and the policies could expire without causing a recession.